21.10.2025 Tecumseh Fitch

Protolanguages are hypothesized intermediate stages in language evolution. Although the term "protolanguage" was introduced by Gordon Hewes in 1973, it was popularized for a particular model of language evolution by Derek Bickerton. For many scientists, Bickerton's model of a protolanguage with words, but without syntax, became the canonical usage of this term, but other very different models of protolanguage have been explored both before and after Bickerton's. I argue that any non-instantaneous model of language evolution needs to have some notion of an intermediate stage or stages, and that the general term "protolanguage" can be used for any of these possible hypothesized intermediates. In previous work I proposed three different plausible hypotheses: musical, lexical, or gestural protolanguage. I suggest that empirical work in language evolution should, whenever possible, test specific predictions of differing models of protolanguage. In this talk I will review models of protolanguage, methods of testing among them, and conclude by suggesting that, given current data, models of language evolution that involve multiple protolanguages are the most plausible option.